Collapsible garment hangers



June 21, 1960 INV ENT OR. \jsueouf J. Szurzer ATTOE/VEY COLLAPSIBLE GARMENT Jerome J. Slutzky, 77 MuttontownRoad, Syosset, NY. Filed Dec..9, 195s, Ser. No. 7.79 ,161 1 Claim cum-94y This invention relates to garment hangers, and more particularly to collapsible garment hangers.

The main object of the invention is the provision of certam new and useful improvements in collapsible garment hangers whereby the hanger may be readily collapsed into a relatively narrow and a somewhat elongated smooth-sided article which may be readily removed from the garment or inserted into the garment through the neck of the garment in a simple and easy manner, without having to unbutton the garment. The instant hanger is of particular utility in the case of a clothes rack or pole wherefrom a number of garments are hung in crowded-together relationship, as is generally the case in retail stores as well as often in the home and elsewhere.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of a collapsible garment hanger embodying a central body portion and two arms pivotally attached to the body portion near the upper ends of the arms, together with readily releasable means for interlocking the arms with the body portion when the arms are in raised position to provide a rigid hanger, which is the case after the collapsed hanger has been inserted into the garment through the neck.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for automatically locking the arms to the body portion after the arms have been moved into normal position to form a rigid hanger.

The above as well as additional objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended solely for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the details shown in the drawing except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a collapsible garment hanger, in normal rigid position, embodying features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, enlarged, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the hanger in collapsed position, showing also in phantom a garment to illustrate how the collapsed hanger may be readily inserted into or removed from the garment through the neck of the garment.

Fig. 4 is anenlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the hanger showing the arms thereof just approaching the position in which the latch holds the arms in rigid extended position.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates the central body of the collapsible hanger and the numerals 11 and 12 the arms thereof. Near their 2,941,704 Patented June 21, 1960 F ice upper ends the arms :11 and 12 arevpivotedwas onpins the body 10 may be'widened bymeans ofwings14. .It

cis to be noted that the arms 11 and 12 lie in aplane 6 :parallel withithe ,planetof the, body 10,1and the face of :the latter having the 1 pins -14 thereon and which is in *sliding contactwith the arms, will hereinafter be termed the front or front .face of the body.

Midway between the, pins 14and near the-base of the =body10, a rigid stop member 15 projects from the front face ofthe body '10. The uppersurface of this-member is-shaped to provide two surfaces .16 of equal length intersecting each other, or meeting,.in an upwardly extending angle or peak. The lower surfaces .17 .of the .upperwends of thearms '11 and 12 are shaped so as to be complementary to the surfaces 16 when the arms are in the raised or extended position shown in Fig. '1. Thus the surfaces 16 serve to stop the arms in the desired position when they are swung upward from the collapsed ;position, to serve as supports for the garment.

At their upper extremities the arms 11 and 12 have rigid pins 18 and 19, respectively, extending forward therefrom provided, respectively, with heads 20 and 21. A latch 22 is pivotally mounted at one end on the pin 19, 'and a coiled spring 23 surrounding the pin between the head 21 and the arm 12, having one end anchored in the head 21 and the other end anchored in the latch 22, normally urges the latch 22 in a counter-clockwise direction, Fig. l. A lug 24 extending forward from the arm 12 under the latch 22 limits the counter-clockwise movement of the latch to the position shown in Fig. 3. Near the other end of the latch a notch or slot 25 extends upward into the latch through the underside. The distance between the pivot 21 and the notch 25 is equal to the distance between the pins 18 and 19 when the arms are in the extended position shown in Fig. 1. The said other end, or outer end, of the latch 22 has a rounded nose 26 thereon, adapted to ride over the pin 18 under the head 20 thereof. In extending the arms 11 and 12 from their positions in Fig. 3 to their positions in Fig. 1, the two arms are swung upward and, as they approach their positions in Fig. 1 the nose 26 will ride up over the pin 18 in cam-like fashion and, as soon as the pin 18 reaches the notch 25 the spring 23 swings the latch back downward to register the pin firmly in the notch. In order to release the latch to permit collapse of the arms 11 and 12, the latch is merely lifted to disengage the pin 18 from the notch.

Thus the arms are automatically locked in their extended positions upon being fully raised, and they are readily collapsed after releasing the latch. In their extended positions the arms are firmly and immovably held in position between the latch on the one hand and the stop member 15 on the other.

With the arms 11 and 12 in collapsed position as shown in Fig. 3, it is readily apparent that the hanger may be easily and quickly inserted into or removed from the garment through the neck without in anyway disturbing the garment. When the hanger is thus inserted into the garment, it is lowered sufficiently to allow extension of the arms thereof, whence the arms are swung into extended position and they are automatically locked in the manner described above. To remove the hanger through the neck of the garment, the latch is released, as stated above, whence the arms will readily collapse to permit withdrawal of the hanger through the neck of the garment.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

.A collapsible garment hanger comprising a central body portion and two hanger arms pivotally secured near their inner ends in a common plane to the front face of the body portion on horizontally spaced pivot axes and adapted to be swung downward from a fully extended substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position, the bodyfportion having a limit stop membefon said front face thereof engageable by said arms in said fully extended position to limit extension of the arms to said fully extended position, and releasable means for releasably locking the arms in said fully extended position comprising a latch pivoted at one endto one of said arms and a pin on the other of said arms horizontally spaced from the pivot axis of the latch, said pin and said pivot axis of the latch being positioned above said firstnamed pivot axes, said latchhaving a notch inthe' the springhaving one end thereof-secured to the lastnamed pin and the other end thereof secured to the latch and being normally tensed to urge said other end of the latch to swing in an arcuate direction toward said firstnamed pin, a limit stop on said one of said arms below the latching limiting swinging of the latch as aforesaid to a position wherein when the arms approach said fully extended position said nose engage and ride up on said last-named pin to register in said notch: Y

" Y nermstesqws the ar of thi s p at ent UNI ED STATES PATENTS- 1,286,022 K1esat.. l Nov. 26, 1918 1,836,942 Sumi Dec. 15, 1931 2,166,492 Harvey July 18, .1939

2,179,479 Lyman Aug. 22, 1939 

